The corner of the Northville office in 2019, three floors of red brick and ribbon windows under an overcast sky
Case File 141

Blending Header Zippers on a Northville Office Wall

The header brick beside the expansion joints on this three-story office went up off color and read as light zippers running up the wall. The brick manufacturer hired the correction in 1999. The building was photographed again twenty years later and certified Platinum.

Case No. 141
Structure Three-story office building
Location Northville, Michigan
Stained April 1999
Re-photographed 2019
Elapsed 20 years, Platinum level

1999

  1. The long elevation of the three-story office in 1999, tan brick and three rows of ribbon windows over bare ground, before staining Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  2. The upper wall in 1999, a vertical expansion joint running down between two ribbon windows with a pale zipper of lighter header brick beside it Before, 1999 View this photo larger
  3. Looking up the wall beside an extension ladder in 1999, a column of lighter header brick running up the expansion joint next to the field brick During, 1999 View this photo larger
  4. The corner of the office in 1999 with a yellow boom and an extension ladder against the tan brick wall and young pines along the base During, 1999 View this photo larger
  5. An applicator in a blue boom lift at the top corner of the building in 1999, working the header brick beside the corner window, with a camera date stamp in the lower corner of the frame During, 1999 View this photo larger
  6. The same elevation in 1999 after the headers were blended, tan brick and three rows of ribbon windows with a bare tree in front and a neighbouring building at the right After, 1999 View this photo larger

What was wrong

Nothing had failed. The file records header brick beside the expansion joints that did not match the field, creating zippers in the wall in several areas. A note in the file explains why: brick headers don't always get the same coating application as the face of the brick. The manufacturer, not the owner, called for the fix.

What was done

The file's phrase is color enhanced. The headers were stained toward the field brick for a better blend, and the file records the headers as the work, nothing more.

2019, twenty years on

  1. The outside corner of the three-story office in 2019, red brick running past three rows of ribbon windows above a clipped hedge, with an overcast sky behind 2019 View this photo larger
  2. The upper wall in 2019 at the same vertical expansion joint between two ribbon windows, the header brick beside it reading as one range with the field around it After, 2019 View this photo larger
  3. Two rows of ribbon windows in 2019 with the expansion joint running between them, no band of off color brick beside the joint 20 Years After View this photo larger
  4. The long elevation of the office in 2019 seen from close to the wall, red brick and three rows of ribbon windows running away to trees at the right After, 2019 View this photo larger
  5. The top corner of the office in 2019, red brick around the corner window and up to the parapet cap, the same corner the lift was working in 1999 2019 View this photo larger
  6. The other corner of the office in 2019 under a stormy sky, a mature pine at the right and the tenant sign on the top floor blurred in the file After, 2019 View this photo larger

What twenty years prove

Same expansion joints, same headers, no zipper. On the certification scale that is Platinum, the top of the scale at twenty years and over. The form was signed in 2020, and the note in the file beside the 2019 frames reads: still a great match after 20 years.

The signed file

Every certified job gets the same form, signed on the day someone goes back to the building. This is the one for case 141, transcribed beside the form so it can be read on a phone and by a search engine.

The case study form for case 141, filled in and signed View the signed form full size
Project name
Office, Northville (1999)
Level
Platinum. The scale runs Bronze at seven to nine years, Silver at ten and over, Gold at fifteen and over, Platinum at twenty and over.
Hired by
The brick manufacturer
Reason for project
Complaint or problem
Issue
"The headers next to the expansion joints were off color, creating zippers in the wall in several areas."
What was corrected
"We colored enhanced the headers for a better blend."
Storyline
"22 years later it still looks great!"
Authorized
Donald A. Foster, signed, dated 2020
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